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JEREMY MAGGS: Now, the Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa’s announcement to procure 2 500 megawatts of nuclear energy is being questioned by some environmental lobby groups. They claim the process is flawed. The government is to publish a request for proposals for a new nuclear capacity build.
Read: SA to seek bids for new nuclear power station
With us now is Princess Mthombeni, who is founder of Africa4Nuclear. It’s an advocacy campaign that promotes nuclear as a contributor to achieving Africa’s agenda for sustainable development. So the first question, is this a feasible and realistic idea?
PRINCESS MTHOMBENI: Definitely, Jeremy. It is feasible, and it is achievable. If you look at what is happening globally, there’s a nuclear renaissance that we are witnessing and we are excited as Africa4Nuclear to witness it because just last week at Cop28 (Conference of the Parties) in Dubai, we saw 22 nations signing the pledge to triple nuclear capacity by 2050, and this is to help accelerate the transition to net zero.
So I was very sad when South Africa was left behind, when I did not see South Africa as part of the signatories. But after yesterday’s announcement, I am hopeful that the country is moving towards the right direction. Yes, we could have done it earlier but better late than never.
JEREMY MAGGS: There is the argument that government is maybe rushing to procure nuclear energy before the finalisation of the IRP 2023 (Integrated Resource Plan) though.
PRINCESS MTHOMBENI: I don’t think that argument really holds water because the IRP 2019 has nuclear in it. So what is currently being implemented is not the reviewed IRP, but the IRP 2019, which it’s Decision 8 suggested the time for procuring, even though they’re not really using the word procuring, but for preparations of nuclear build programmes should start immediately. That’s what Decision 8 of IRP 2019 said. So the current implementation of 2 500 megawatts is in the IRP 2019, not the one that we are waiting for.
Read: Here comes the nuclear IPP
JEREMY MAGGS: All right. What measures then, in your opinion, should be implemented to ensure transparency in the procurement process, given that the costs will be very high?
PRINCESS MTHOMBENI: I don’t really think that we should start estimating the cost right now because, for me, we would know the cost of a nuclear build once we issue out the request for proposals. Something that never happened even before, even though many people speculated a trillion rand nuclear deal, but it was just speculation because nothing was confirmed or there was no black and white paper that said a nuclear deal was going to cost a trillion rand.
Read: The Guptas’ attempt to hijack SA’s R1trn nuke programme
But you are correct in saying we need to ensure transparency and I think our government, what they need to do then after issuing out the request for proposals, they need to keep on updating us in terms of how many countries have actually submitted bids and the decision that they are taking and tell us does it make economic sense for South Africa to choose that country. So it just has to be like that, government updating us in terms of what transpired during the RFP (request for proposal) process.
JEREMY MAGGS: I understand that cost at this point is a moving target, but you will concede though that the cost of the project has to remain within a manageable range.
PRINCESS MTHOMBENI: Yes, it has to remain within a manageable range. But also, when we speak about these technologies, we talk about the levelised cost of energy and we never talk about the full cost of energy, which to me is the model that we should be using.
But okay, when we speak about levelised cost of energy, we also need to talk about what is the leveller of which, in this instance, the leveller should be the availability and reliability of the source.
JEREMY MAGGS: So I want to come back to the whole notion of transparency. Everyone would be in agreement with you that government would need to keep us (informed) at every turn as far as this process is concerned. But it has to be monitored to ensure adherence to best practice and most importantly, given the track record with other big build projects in South Africa, critical to this is the avoidance of corruption. What mechanisms need to be put in place to make sure that from the get-go, we have a grip on that?
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PRINCESS MTHOMBENI: I’d like us to treat the project differently, Jeremy. I know when we speak about a mega project there is some sort of corruption that we usually see. But with nuclear, for me, I see it slightly differently because there are no middlemen in the nuclear deal.
Unlike in other energy technologies where you find middlemen, many of them. With nuclear, there is absolutely no middlemen.
So the corruption possibility is very minimal when it comes to nuclear projects because it’s a deal between states.
JEREMY MAGGS: So given that then, how does government need to guarantee and ensure a fair and unbiased selection of vendors and the technology, given international geopolitical dynamics that exist at the moment, and we all know that they are difficult and tricky.
PRINCESS MTHOMBENI: When it comes to international geopolitics, I think that South Africa has actually presented itself as non-biased and a country that is not really aligned to any country when it comes to what is currently happening geopolitically. I think that’s the right stance at the moment.
But when it comes to choosing the right vendor technology, they need to make sure that whoever gets chosen is chosen based on what the country can afford and what really can make economic sense for the country in terms of industrialisation and development.
JEREMY MAGGS: You wouldn’t say that we have a close alignment to Russia at this point when it comes to the procurement of nuclear technology?
PRINCESS MTHOMBENI: If Russia is giving us a fair deal, then I don’t see why the country should not go with Russia.
JEREMY MAGGS: All right. Final question, considering that nuclear plants take a long time to build, this isn’t going to address our immediate energy needs like load shedding, will it?
PRINCESS MTHOMBENI: I would start by saying, Jeremy, the current plants, all of them, coal plants, including Koeberg Nuclear Power Station that we are benefiting from, they were not built overnight. Leaders at that time, they were visionary, they thought of long term, and I think that’s very important when you’re planning for an energy project.
But with regard to load shedding, yes you are correct that the plant that we may be able to build will not be able to address load shedding in a short-term period, which is why I believe, and as Africa4Nuclear we believe that the most immediate thing to do for our government is to make sure that they properly maintain the current coal power plants so that they run up until at least we are able to replace them with nuclear.
But also, at the same time, they need to make sure that they bring more renewables to the grid so that we are able to address load shedding in the short-term run.
But ja, we also need to think long term, but we do have to properly maintain our coal plants so that we are able to address the current load shedding.
JEREMY MAGGS: Princess Mthombeni, thank you very much indeed, founder of Africa4Nuclear.
